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How do we lower our carbon footprint and make the most of our resources? Every day, farmers, ranchers, educators, researchers and innovators around the world, are working together to answer these questions, developing new strategies to produce and distribute food, fuel, and fiber in a sustainable manner.

Since its inception in 1988, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Nationwide (SARE), has funded more than 6,700 projects, with the mission to advance innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life. SARE, a brainchild of the University of Maryland invests in groundbreaking research and education that will benefit the entire country.

Grant recipient, farmer Dan Forgey, manager of the Cronin Farms in Gettysburg South Dakota, worked together with South Dakota State University researcher Dwayne Beck, to find ways to improve soil quality.

Forgey was awarded a grant to improve soil health through no-till rotation. This increased crop yields-sustainably, with less fertilizers and herbicides. In addition to the no-till rotations, he diversified, increasing from six crops to 12.

No-till not only makes farming more efficient—it saves time and uses less on labor, equipment and fuel—it has created better yields, even in years of below-average rainfall. “It’s all about soil health,” Forgey says. “With no-till we make use of the carbon to help make organic matter.”

With the grant he received, he conducted trials with cover crop mixes and identified a formula that would work with his system in his region. He is now using cover crops on hundreds of acres, grows grains, oilseed crops and forages for his 750-head-cow-calf operation, and is teaching his neighbors how to do the same. “The longer we are in no-till, the more benefits we see,” Forgey says. Crop production is up 30% using less fertilizer and herbicide.

Forgey’s overall goal is to build soil health naturally and rely less on manmade inputs. “This is what the country needs,” he says. “Between cover crops and no-till we are doing things to better the soil nature’s way.” No-till not only decreases erosion, it has increased the land’s organic matter 1.3 percent in 10 years. Cover crops are beginning to increase the biological diversity of the soil and help keep nutrients out of local waterways.

As a result of using these methods, Forgey has increased profitability, decreased the use of additional resources such as water, decreased the use of pesticides and herbicides, increased production on the farm he manages and has helped professor Beck and the South Dakota State University and organizations such as the USDA, SARE, NRCS, and the Soil Health Institute to better understand and educate the public on sustainability and how to achieve the best outcomes in the field.

Some innovative new practices, and some return to old ways, have been made possible by collaborative grants in sustainable agriculture: no-till rotations and cover crops, higher yields for organic farms using less pesticides and herbicides, season extension through the use of solar energy and other innovations, new water conservation methods, and energy independent farms.

According to the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors (NNFS), fiscal sponsorship has evolved as an effective and efficient method of applying for grants, starting new nonprofits, seeding social movements, and delivering public services.

Fiscal sponsorship refers to a legal arrangement in which a nonprofit organization agrees to accept and administer funds for another entity with a parallel mission. That entity can be another nonprofit, but often doesn’t yet have the legal tax-exempt status. By partnering with a fiscal sponsor, a charitable project can seek and receive tax-exempt contributions right away without having to establish a new independent organizational infrastructure or apply for 501(c)3 status. The fiscal sponsor provides fiduciary services including governance, funds management and other necessary administrative supports to projects with social impact missions in alignment with their own.

In 2012, an advisory committee to the IRS Tax-Exempt Organizations office recommended fiscal sponsorship as an alternative to the increasing number of nonprofit corporations being formed and seeking 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. And in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as it had after Katrina, the IRS recommended use of existing organizations for community relief efforts, rather than forming new organizations.

Any nonprofit agency deemed an exempt public charity by the IRS can be a fiscal sponsor for a nonexempt community project. The fiscal sponsor must have been awarded its tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and have a legally binding agreement with the project. With that agreement, charitable contributions are given to the fiscal sponsor, which then grants them to support the cause. Being able to claim these contributions as tax-deductions encourages potential donors to support these valuable community projects.

Fiscal sponsors "have the ability to receive charitable contributions for specific projects, the infrastructure to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state laws and adequate internal controls to ensure that the funds will be used for the intended charitable purposes," according to a recent IRS report. Only nonprofits whose executive leadership and boards of directors are fully aware of the obligations and liabilities they legally assume should agree to be fiscal sponsors.

Other fiscal sponsors can be found on the Fiscal Sponsorship Directory.

Fiscal sponsors generally charge an administrative fee based on a percentage of the budget of the sponsored organization or program. These fees can range based on the services that are provided and the complexity of grants to be administered.

Fiscal sponsorship can be practiced under various models approved by the IRS. The two most-frequently used models are comprehensive fiscal sponsorship and pre-approved grant relationship fiscal sponsorship.

Comprehensive Fiscal Sponsorship

In a comprehensive fiscal sponsorship relationship, the fiscally-sponsored project becomes a program of the fiscal sponsor, and is a fully integrated part of the fiscal sponsor that maintains all legal and fiduciary responsibility for the sponsored project, including its employees and activities. This model of fiscal sponsorship is particularly valuable when a project has employees.

Pre-Approved Grant Relationship Fiscal Sponsorship

In a Pre-Approved Grant Relationship Sponsorship, the fiscally-sponsored project does not become a program belonging to the sponsor but is a separate entity responsible for managing its own tax reporting and liability issues. In addition, the sponsor does not necessarily maintain ownership of any part of the results of the project’s work—ownership rights may be addressed in the fiscal sponsor agreement and could potentially result in some form of joint ownership. The sponsor simply assures that the project will use the grant funds received to accomplish the ends described in the grant proposal. This is the model of fiscal sponsorship primarily used in the arts.

Using a fiscal sponsor satisfies IRS requirements as long as the fiscal sponsor maintains the right to decide how it will use contributions. Programs seeking sponsorship should be aware of this and be sure that the fiscal sponsor they choose is truly solid and in a position to take them on.

Since most grantmakers give to organizations, not individuals, fiscal sponsorship may help you qualify for more funding opportunities, enabling you to fund and start your project sooner.

Please take all necessary precautions because there have been cases where fiscal sponsors have gone into deficit or gone bankrupt, bringing the projects down with them. Fiscal sponsors should have insurance in place that will ensure that they are able to pay the funds due to those they sponsor should something happen to them.

Fiscal sponsorships allow programs to be eligible for foundation grants and other grants they need . Find grants on GrantWatch.com. For more information contact support@grantwatch.com.

Due to recent bouts of hurricanes and other natural disasters, so many people and organizations are in need of assistance, and are often at a loss as to where to find it.

Some of this assistance may come through FEMA, the US government agency tasked with providing help to survivors of natural disasters throughout the United States. There are other local governmental agencies and local community based organizations, that step in to help.

Another path worthy of exploration are foundation grants. Here are 2 samples of foundation grants.

Grants to USA nonprofit organizations, public schools, and libraries to support a wide range of community and environmental causes. Funding is intended for, but not limited to the focus areas of education, human services, disaster relief, health, arts, and culture. The Foundation makes both program and operating grants and does not have any geographic restrictions. Activities may be carried out anywhere in the world.

The next application deadline is November 1st, but grants are ongoing depending on timing, urgency, and the volume of applications. Grant awards could be made more frequently if deemed necessary by the foundation's board of directors.

Grants to USA, Canada, and International organizations and individuals to enhance quality of life and improve financial positions. The Foundation seeks to provide personal financial assistance, as well as coaching, to help financially prudent and hardworking individuals recover from unanticipated life events, and to promote financial stability through education.

They are committed to empowering individuals through financial coaching and providing opportunities for job training, small business, and home ownership. With a focus on personal pride and dignity, the foundation aims to transform sudden and unexpected economic hardships into financially sustainable outcomes for individuals and families.

In addition, their grants can go towards scholarship funds, providing funds to meet the financial obligations of parents, by providing funds to meet the health requirements of needy children and adults, and by providing funds to individuals facing financial emergencies caused by health, weather, storm, fire, earthquake, or other catastrophic events; and to contribute to organizations or causes which enhance the quality of life.

People and community organizations need to be resourceful and advocate for themselves. Before taking out a loan, why not look into alternative funding that’s out there in the form of foundation grants.

Foundation grants provide funding to meet specific needs that are related to the mission and vision of the foundation. Each foundation has its own eligibility requirement, such as: individuals, small businesses, nonprofits, federal, state or local government agencies. Unlike loans, these are gifts and do not need to be repaid.

There are thousands of charitable foundations with trillions of dollars to give in the United States alone. The question is, how to receive it. Most foundations give their most substantial gifts to nonprofits, so it's possible to ask a community nonprofit that is a recipient of a grant award for assistance.

Foundations can be private or public grant making charities. The vast majority of foundations were founded for a specific purpose, whether it’s to fund medical research, programs for the homeless, provide educational funding, or aid victims of domestic violence. They exist for the purpose of giving out money in the form of grants, to unrelated organizations, institutions, or individuals for charitable purposes, in order to bring about positive change according to their own mandate.

In addition to a particular focus, most foundations have their own board of directors, a staff (some small, others large) and may undertake their own fundraising to help fund their grants.

Many foundations have been set up by individuals (both living and deceased) to promote the causes of the grantor. Some have been set up as charitable memorials to great people. Others have been set up by companies and other institutions to promote different areas of interest.

Whatever the foundation makeup, grant-making foundations are required to grant specific percentages of their assets each year to maintain their nonprofit status.

GrantWatch currently has thousands of active foundation grants, and adds new grants daily (GrantWatch archives grants when the deadline passes to maintain a current and fresh website).

As long as you can demonstrate need and meet the requirements of the program, you can apply to the grant program. Apply to as many programs as possible and don't get discouraged if you are turned down. Proposals should align with the values and mission of the foundation you’re looking for a grant from. Persistence and patience are recommended to see the best results.

So, if you’re looking for funding and meet the criterion, get in touch with these foundations. Find out eligibility requirements and apply for grants!

If you do not see a viable grant that meets your needs, another venue to explore is starting your very own free fundraising campaign on YouHelp.com.

Individuals, municipalities, nonprofits, religious institutions, and community-based groups searching for grants can identify funding opportunities in support of disaster relief and other financial needs initiatives at GrantWatch.com and MWBEzone.com. Sign-up to receive the weekly GrantWatch newsletter which features geographic-specific funding opportunities.

Are you and your organization doing all you can to do to get available funding from corporate sponsors or are you leaving money on the table? You could be losing out on much needed money you're already eligible for because you and your volunteers don't know about some of the programs offered by companies of all sizes where your volunteers work.

In this socially conscious age, more and more businesses are providing support for the good work being done by nonprofits like yours. What do the corporate sponsors get in return? They're rewarded for these donations with an enhanced public image, greater employee loyalty, higher self-esteem and greater job satisfaction.

Volunteer grant programs represent a huge opportunity for smart nonprofits to deepen their relationships with their volunteers and with these generous companies. Sometimes called "Dollars for Doers” programs, volunteer grants are corporate giving programs created to encourage volunteerism in communities where employees live and work. These programs have a variety of names: "Good Hands" or "The Giving Campaign" by Allstate and Individual and Team VIP (Volunteer Involvement Programs) at ExxonMobil. These volunteer programs are a major opportunity with surprisingly low awareness, both among nonprofits and volunteers.

According to Libby Hikind, CEO of GrantWatch, "By making use of volunteer grant programs, nonprofits can benefit from the support of socially minded businesses, while attracting a broader base of volunteers for future projects." Approximately forty percent of Fortune 500 Companies provide grants to nonprofits where employees regularly volunteer. Companies such as New York Life,and ExxonMobil, Apple, Disney, Google, JP Morgan, Amgen and Dell are some of the top companies to offer volunteer grants.

Companies and organizations where your members and volunteers work might already have programs to donate to the charity of their choice through service hours. It's estimated by Double the Donation, that over fifteen million individuals work for the over 20,000 companies that match their employee's donations of time with money when the employees submit the necessary documentation. A large percentage of those employees are not aware that their donations of time and money would be matched by the companies they work for. It literally pays to find out if yours is one of them and submit the paperwork.

How it Works

Different companies have different eligibility requirements for employee volunteers at nonprofits.

For instance,ExxonMobil's matching rate for volunteer hours is $500 for every 20 hours, (with a maximum of $2000). In 2015 alone, close to 10,000 ExxonMobil employees, retirees and their family members in the United States volunteered more than 435,000 hours of their personal time in 2015, in recognition of which ExxonMobil contributed more than $6.9 million to more than 3,400 non-profit organizations where they volunteered through their Education Matching Gifts Program, their Cultural Matching Gifts Program, Individual Volunteer Involvement Program, and Team Volunteer Involvement Program.

New York Life Volunteers for Good focuses on volunteering for causes related to their mission: educational and bereavement support-oriented nonprofits, though they will provide volunteer matches to other nonprofits as well. They have a dedicated site where employees, agents, retirees and eligible (accredited) educational institutions can register their matching gift requests electronically (nyl.yourcause.com) Their minimum for individual volunteer grants is 30 hours to one eligible charity. They'll contribute $1,000.00 for 60 hours or more of community service. Individuals can submit matching donation requests up to six months from the donation date. In addition, they offer team grants for their employees and agents to volunteer collectively. When they volunteer collectively for 40 hours total, New York Life provides volunteer grants of between $500-$10,000. Individuals can donate monetarily or through volunteering to several institutions per year and will be matched up to $5,000. The maximum for gifts to a single institution from the foundation is capped at $50,000 a year. For additional information see https://newyorklifefoundation.org.

If you already have volunteers at your nonprofit, let them know that they can request a matching gift or volunteer grant through the human resources or community giving department at their company, or check on the company's intranet or online to see if their employer already has a program in place. Companies will recommend charities they are already involved in, but they are often also open to give to the charity of the employee's choice when presented with the information and proof of the hours volunteered. It's normally a five-minute process which must be initiated by the donor/ volunteer. They just submit a match form provided by their employer or through an electronic submission process.

Nonprofits should reach out to local subsidiaries of large corporations and inquire if they have a volunteer program and ask to be included in the corporate volunteer program. The nonprofit leadership should advise their Board and staff of their inclusion in the volunteer program and how best to use these services.

Corporate volunteer matching grants are a great way to help your nonprofit increase revenue, boost engagement, improve community relationships, and affirm relationships with volunteers.

Resident Linda Allen says Marshall County has been waiting to whet its whistle for a decade now, or at least until improvements are made to drinking water in parts of the Southwest Kentucky town.

Safe drinking water may be on the way. Allen was thrilled to learn that the county was awarded a grant to construct waterlines that will eventually bring residents safe drinking water.

Right now, Marshall County Mayor Joe Liggett says the local water smells like rotten eggs. While unpleasant, high levels of sulfur in the drinking water is not harmful to health. However, Liggett said the “sulfur water” ruins household appliances.

Water issues extend beyond Marshall County. Aging infrastructure continues to challenge Americans in their search for safe water to drink. Libby Hikind, founder and CEO of GrantWatch.com, said funds are available to cash-strapped municipalities charged with oversight of these water systems. Some of the funding opportunities on GrantWatch are targeted for expanding and maintaining public water systems. Others are designed to protect drinking water resources including the replacement of fixtures to reduce lead levels in school districts.

By funding the extension of water lines, the $525,000 Community Development Block Grant will help 40 different households in Marshall County and impact the drinking water of 115 residents. Until then, residents will have to make due.

Across the state in Martin County, Hope Workman doesn’t trust the water in her tap. For the past two decades, she travels up a dirt road to fill jugs with drinking water from a small plastic PVC tapped into a well on the side of a mountain. Workman is one of many residents who wake up without any water at all or with extremely low pressure. Other times, the water is unsafe to drink.

Water emergencies are becoming commonplace in Kentucky, where aging water and sewer systems need billions of dollars in investment to prevent failures that impact public health and the environment. Ensuring safe drinking water has become a challenge for communities across the nation. Low-income areas disproportionately bear the brunt of these threats.

About 1 million miles of pipes dot the nation’s landscape to connect Americans to drinking water. The American Society of Civil Engineers claims stretches of these underground pipes have reached the end of their lifespans and need repair.

Some families in California, where hundreds of communities still lack access to safe drinking water in their homes, schools, parks and businesses, spend 10 percent of their income on bottled water. And, that’s on top of their monthly bills.

In Sacramento, drinking fountains and faucets were shut off at Grant Union High School after district officials found "elevated levels" of lead and copper in the drinking water. Until county officials could isolate the problem, students were given bottled water and food was prepared off-site.

Some $9.5 million in grants are available to California schools and districts across the nation. The Drinking Water for Schools Program funds the installation or replacement of water bottle filling stations, drinking fountains, and plumbing fixtures that may cause contamination. Lawmakers believe it’s going to take infrastructure investments like this piece of federal legislation to protect the public from serious health dangers.

Despite what state officials say, residents of Flint believe their water crisis is far from over. The city made national headlines in 2015 when the Environmental Protection Agency detected hazardous levels of lead and other toxins in the drinking water of residents’ homes. Discovery of the lead-tainted water, experts believe, could impact the city for generations to come

Local municipalities, schools, nonprofits, utilities, community-based groups and concerned citizens frustrated by the often-overwhelming process involved with searching for grants can identify funding opportunities in support of safe drinking water initiatives at GrantWatch.com. Sign-up to receive the weekly GrantWatch newsletter which features geographic-specific funding opportunities.

A rejected grant proposal is a real bummer, but it happens. Competition is steep and even great proposals can be rejected. You did all that work: the planning, the budget, the research, and your entire board is onboard for the new project. So what do you do?

Well, you have two options, and you can do both.

The most immediate solution is YouHelp.com, the crowdfunding site where you keep 100% of the funds you raise.

It is quick and easy to put up a campaign – takes about 5 minutes, and you have a fundraiser page. You already have the passion, program, and budget – so it will be easy for you to explain the need for funds.

Personalize your page by adding a video or pictures regarding your project or nonprofit, and don’t forget to add all your social media pages, so that all your friends, family, and potential funders can see all the excellent work you are doing.

Setting up your page is easy, the harder part is getting the word out about your fundraiser. Here’s where your social media network will come into play. From your fundraising page, you can actually share it on all your social media profiles. So share it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ for maximum exposure. Make sure to also personally reach out to potential funders about your project, because sometimes people who are not very active on social media may be interested in helping you with funding.

Now, onto the second option for your grant proposal. Since your grant writer did such a good job writing the proposal, this writing may be able to be recycled. And since you are already a GrantWatch MemberPlus+ you have access to thousands of other grants that you may be eligible for. So here’s what you can do: search for grants that have similar criteria to the one you already applied to, and then tweak your proposal to fit the new grant application into an award winning proposal. GrantWatch has more than 50 grant categories, and your project may fall into multiple categories, so keep searching! And if you have any issues while looking around the site, you can always reach out to the GrantWatch customer service team!

So, don’t be discouraged if you didn’t get the grant funding this time, there are still resources to utilize. And one last thing that may help. When you sign up for a campaign on YouHelp, you have access to a crowdfunding mentor to help walk you through the entire process. Mentorship is a real rarity in the crowdfunding world and can help increase your chances of funding success. You will have access by email and phone, and this mentor can help guide you through all the steps from setting up your page and personalizing it, to social media tips.

Happy Funding!

About the Author: Lianne Hikind is a staff writer for GrantWatch and a Copywriter at ABC Purple.

Reversing decades of disrespect toward American Indians who have repeatedly been employed as symbols of nationhood, culture and business comes with a price tag. And now, a public corporation is determined to make sure city buildings, schools and monuments across Michigan start out with a clean slate.

The Native American Heritage Fund Board will foot the bill for Belding Area Schools to remove Redskin imagery from what had long served as the district’s mascot. Brent Noskey, the superintendent of schools, expects the $35,000 grant to stir the pot again. But, that’s ok, he said, because the school will no longer face charges of “racism.”

After a contentious debate over the name change, a move was made a year ago to the Belding Black Knights. The school had dropped the Redskins name in 2016 after distancing from the Native American imagery over the years. Noskey said the grant will cover the costs for changing sports uniforms and band outfits.

Libby Hikind, founder and CEO of GrantWatch.com, said Native American serving nonprofits and owners of small businesses are eligible for many government and private grants. But she said identifying these grants can be complex and confusing without narrowing a search. By applying categories to the keyword search today on GrantWatch for Native American we found 51 listings. And when we used the complete search filter and clicked California for the geographic location (together with the keyword Native American), we found 26 today. Using the geographic focus for Michigan we found 24.

GrantWatch adds new grants daily; including funding opportunities that address education, such as teacher training and curriculum development, and health and well-being, economic development and infrastructure, and culture and heritage.

American Indians represent only 1 percent of the U.S. population, but as many as three-quarters believe they have faced discrimination, according to a survey conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. And more than one-third say they have been personally subjected to racial or ethnic slurs, or insensitive or offensive comments about their race/ethnicity.

Michigan schools with American Indian mascots learned in January they could receive funds to change identities under a new agreement between the state and Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi. The fund board, including members from several Native American groups and representatives in Michigan, was created in 2016 as part of the Tribal-State Gaming Compact.

Since then, $76,765 has been designated for the removal of the Fountain of the Pioneers and site improvements at Bronson Park, in Kalamazoo. And, in Battle Creek, a Native American Heritage Fund Board grant will replace a century-old stained-glass window in city hall. The grant will cover $3,400 – about half – of the cost to remove a mosaic medallion depicting what is believed to be a white settler clubbing a Native American on the city seal.

Both Jamie Stuck, tribal chairman for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, and City Manager Rebecca Fleury believe the window is an inaccurate depiction of history. After its removal, the window may be preserved at the Regional History Museum in Battle Creek.

Nonprofits, community-based groups, municipalities and concerned citizens frustrated by the often-overwhelming process involved with searching for grants to provide services for Native Americans and government tribes in need can identify funding opportunities at GrantWatch.com. Sign-up to receive the weekly GrantWatch newsletter which features geographic-specific funding opportunities.

Music buffs and historians in St. Louis have never felt more like singing the blues.

All the swinging and swaying can be heard from the downtown National Blues Museum, which was awarded a grant worth nearly $150,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Service.

The federal grant will fund “Keeping the Blues Alive,” a project designed to digitalize the growing collection of video recordings of live performances, public programs and educational presentations at the National Blues Museum. Documenting America’s blues heritage will require a non-federal funding match of $223,742, which would bring the project's total cost to $370,000.

The earliest form of blues migrated north to St. Louis — Known as the “Gateway to the West” — from their birthplace in the Mississippi Delta more than a century ago. Musicians coined “St. Louis Blues” by melding the local strains of ragtime with the African spirituals and chants that slaves sang and hollered on Southern plantations. In 1914, W. C. Handy published “St. Louis Blues,” the immortal song he allegedly wrote while sitting on the St. Louis riverfront. The song went on to become the most popular in blues history.

Libby Hikind, founder and CEO of GrantWatch.com, said that while grants are available from local, state and federal agencies, museums also derive support from foundations and corporate sponsors. Museums that are nonprofits are also eligible for grants from a wide range of funding sources that support the arts, culture, humanities and historical preservation. The search for these nonprofit funding opportunities begins at GrantWatch.

The grant to the National Blues Museum was one of 26 awards distributed through the Museum Grants for African-American History and Culture program administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Service. Museums in 18 states were awarded grants. Several sites in Alabama where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought against segregation and for civil rights were among the grant recipients.

Municipalities, local government agencies, nonprofits, community-based groups, and concerned citizens frustrated by the often-overwhelming process involved with searching for grants that provide support for museums and other initiatives that promote culture and arts can identify funding opportunities that are easy to read and simple to comprehend at GrantWatch.com. Sign-up to receive the weekly GrantWatch newsletter which features geographic-specific funding opportunities.

Don’t blame Freddie Mae Slaughter, who has painted the interior walls of her Kansas City home at least two or three times in the past 19 years, if she missed a spot. She hadn’t given a thought that the window sills between the inside and outside panes were saturated with lead.

Now, Slaughter, 63, is banking on a federal grant to get the lead out and make her 1950s-built home safe for the two-year-old she babysits during the week.

Despite a four-decade-old ban on lead paint used in home projects, potential health threats linger in Kansas City and across the nation. In 2016, 519 Kansas City children younger than 6 tested positive for high lead levels in their blood, compared to 275 just a year earlier and about 400 in 2011.

Lead poisoning is considered the most preventable environmental disease among young children, yet approximately half a million kids, ages 1-5, in the United States have blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter, the reference level at which Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend public health action. And no city appears immune from the dangers. In New York, more than 820 children younger than age 6 who lived in public housing in the city were found to have elevated levels of lead in their bloodstream between 2012 and 2016.

Unsafe levels of lead in the blood can lead to a wide range of symptoms, from headaches and stomach pain to behavioral problems and a lack of health red blood cells. Lead also can affect the development of a child’s brain. New research suggests the hazards are not limited to children. More than 400,000 U.S. adults die annually from heart disease and other conditions aggravated by lead exposure in their younger years. That’s 10 times the previous estimates of deaths linked to long-term effects of living with lead.

After decades of decline, rising estimates in the number of lead-poisoned children may be due, in part, to tougher CDC recommendations for addressing dangerous levels in the blood. Acceptable blood concentration from 40 micrograms of lead per deciliter in the 1970s were tightened to 10 micrograms in the 1990s and 5 micrograms per deciliter in the past decade.

Libby Hikind, founder and CEO of GrantWatch.com, said the federal government continues to offer grants to protect children from lead-based paint poisoning. State and local agencies can find funding opportunities that assist in identifying and remediating lead-based paint in rental units and owner-occupied housing at GrantWatch.

Experts agree that grant programs from the Environmental Protection Agency and Housing and Urban Development have helped dramatically reduce lead-poisoning risks within homes. However, greater public awareness and education is essential to protecting children before they are poisoned, said Julius Lawrence, a facilitator with Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today. The nonprofit in Syracuse, N.Y., where a study last year showed the city had the nation's highest percentage of lead poisoning among children from 2009 to 2015, is hosting a block party, April 28, 2018, to galvanize community support for prevention initiatives.

While community-based efforts make progress, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 20 percent of the homes in the United States still harbor lead-paint hazards. Of tens of millions of homes built before 1978, most have never been professionally inspected, much less treated, for lead.

Last fall, Slaughter, 63, took it upon herself to find out when she approached a crew doing abatement work across the street. The workers agreed to inspect her house and, after wiping, the siding, windows and floors, told Slaughter she could qualify for a HUD grant. Now, Kansas City officials plan to use the federal grant program to remediate the lead from her home and 70 other low-income properties like hers.

Municipalities, nonprofit agencies, small businesses, and homeowners frustrated by the often-overwhelming process involved with searching for grants that help remediate and prevent lead poisoning can identify funding opportunities that are easy to read and simple to comprehend at GrantWatch.com. Sign-up to receive the weekly GrantWatch newsletter which features geographic-specific funding opportunities.

If residents of Coastal Georgia have their way, their beaches will never be the butt of jokes.

From the sand to the streets, a $15,000 grant will help volunteer groups get the word out that cigarette butts are not welcome on Tybee Island. The local effort is part of a three-month state initiative, dubbed “Georgia’s Coast is Not an Ashtray,” and the larger nonprofit Keep America Beautiful national program.

Tim Arnold, founder of Tybee Clean Beach Volunteers, said his group has counted as many as 200,000 cigarette butts across local beaches in the past 18 months. When disposed of in water or discarded on land and blown into storm drains, cigarette filters not only litter the beach, but pose a threat to local animal, marine and plant life.

The Georgia campaign is not necessarily a threat to smoking, as it is about litter. Until the end of summer, Georgia’s six coastal counties will be raising awareness about the dangers of cigarette butts, distributing ashtrays and installing receptacles around high traffic areas including stoplights, along roadways and throughout public spaces.

Each year, Keep America Beautiful awards Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grants to affiliates, local governments, business improvement districts, downtown associations, parks and recreation areas, and other organizations dedicated to eradicating litter and beautifying communities. Many of these anti-litter grants at the state level as well as funding opportunities from government agencies and foundations aimed at litter prevention, recycling and environment are posted on GrantWatch.com.

Although smoking rates in the United States have declined, cigarettes remain the most frequently littered item in America. Cigarette butts make up 32 percent of all litter collected in the United States.

Keep America Beautiful grants are helping litter-prevention advocates combat cigarette trash in downtown Spokane, Wash., as well. The city’s Eco Team is one of 42 organizations nationwide to receive grant funding through the 2018 Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, the largest such effort in the nation aimed at reducing cigarette litter. Keep America Beautiful has distributed some $3 million in grant funding to support local implementation of the program in more than 1,700 communities nationwide.

Heather Schroeder, a program manager for the nonprofit Downtown Committee of Syracuse, said smokers forget that cigarette butts are not biodegradable. Her group conducted a survey as part of its application for the $5,000 Keep America Beautiful grant. The Downtown Committee will use the money it received to buy receptacles and to put up posters and run radio ads urging smokers to use them instead of flicking their cigarette butts on the ground.

Nonprofits, community-based groups, municipalities and concerned citizens frustrated by the often-overwhelming process involved with searching for grants to provide environmentally friendly services including litter prevention initiatives can identify funding opportunities that are easy to read and simple to comprehend at GrantWatch.com. Sign-up to receive the weekly GrantWatch newsletter which features geographic-specific funding opportunities.